Κέκροψ αὐτόχθων, συμφυὲς ἔχων σῶμα ἀνδρὸς καὶ δράκοντος, τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἐβασίλευσε πρῶτος, καὶ τὴν γῆν πρότερον λεγομένην Ἀκτὴν ἀφʼ ἑαυτοῦ Κεκροπίαν ὠνόμασεν. ἐπὶ τούτου, φασίν, ἔδοξε τοῖς θεοῖς πόλεις καταλαβέσθαι, ἐν αἷς ἔμελλον ἔχειν τιμὰς ἰδίας ἕκαστος. ἧκεν οὖν πρῶτος Ποσειδῶν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἀττικήν, καὶ πλήξας τῇ τριαίνῃ κατὰ μέσην τὴν ἀκρόπολιν ἀπέφηνε θάλασσαν, ἣν νῦν Ἐρεχθηίδα καλοῦσι. μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον ἧκεν Ἀθηνᾶ, καὶ ποιησαμένη τῆς καταλήψεως Κέκροπα μάρτυρα ἐφύτευσεν ἐλαίαν, ἣ νῦν ἐν τῷ Πανδροσείῳ δείκνυται. γενομένης δὲ ἔριδος ἀμφοῖν περὶ τῆς χώρας, διαλύσας Ζεὺς κριτὰς ἔδωκεν, οὐχ ὡς εἶπόν τινες, Κέκροπα καὶ Κραναόν, οὐδὲ Ἐρυσίχθονα, θεοὺς δὲ τοὺς δώδεκα. καὶ τούτων δικαζόντων ἡ χώρα τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ἐκρίθη, Κέκροπος μαρτυρήσαντος ὅτι πρώτη τὴν ἐλαίαν ἐφύτευσεν. Ἀθηνᾶ μὲν οὖν ἀφʼ ἑαυτῆς τὴν πόλιν ἐκάλεσεν Ἀθήνας, Ποσειδῶν δὲ θυμῷ ὀργισθεὶς τὸ Θριάσιον πεδίον ἐπέκλυσε καὶ τὴν Ἀττικὴν ὕφαλον ἐποίησε.
Cecrops, a son of the soil, with a body compounded of man and serpent, was the first king of Attica, and the country which was formerly called Acte he named Cecropia after himself. In his time, they say, the gods resolved to take possession of cities in which each of them should receive his own peculiar worship. So Poseidon was the first that came to Attica, and with a blow of his trident on the middle of the acropolis, he produced a sea which they now call Erechtheis. After him came Athena, and, having called on Cecrops to witness her act of taking possession, she planted an olive tree, which is still shown in the Pandrosium. But when the two strove for possession of the country, Zeus parted them and appointed arbiters, not, as some have affirmed, Cecrops and Cranaus, nor yet Erysichthon, but the twelve gods. And in accordance with their verdict the country was adjudged to Athena, because Cecrops bore witness that she had been the first to plant the olive. Athena, therefore, called the city Athens after herself, and Poseidon in hot anger flooded the Thriasian plain and laid Attica under the sea.
Κέκροψ δὲ γήμας τὴν Ἀκταίου κόρην Ἄγραυλον παῖδα μὲν ἔσχεν Ἐρυσίχθονα, ὃς ἄτεκνος μετήλλαξε, θυγατέρας δὲ Ἄγραυλον Ἕρσην Πάνδροσον. Ἀγραύλου μὲν οὖν καὶ Ἄρεος Ἀλκίππη γίνεται. ταύτην βιαζόμενος Ἁλιρρόθιος, ὁ Ποσειδῶνος καὶ νύμφης Εὐρύτης, ὑπὸ Ἄρεος φωραθεὶς κτείνεται. Ποσειδῶνος δὲ εἰσάγοντος ἐν Ἀρείῳ πάγῳ κρίνεται δικαζόντων τῶν δώδεκα θεῶν Ἄρης καὶ ἀπολύεται.
Cecrops married Agraulus, daughter of Actaeus, and had a son Erysichthon, who departed this life childless; and Cecrops had daughters, Agraulus, Herse, and Pandrosus. Agraulus had a daughter Alcippe by Ares. In attempting to violate Alcippe, Halirrhothius, son of Poseidon and a nymph Euryte, was detected and killed by Ares. Impeached by Poseidon, Ares was tried in the Areopagus before the twelve gods, and was acquitted.
Ἕρσης δὲ καὶ Ἑρμοῦ Κέφαλος, οὗ ἐρασθεῖσα Ἠὼς ἥρπασε καὶ μιγεῖσα ἐν Συρίᾳ παῖδα ἐγέννησε Τιθωνόν, οὗ παῖς ἐγένετο Φαέθων, τούτου δὲ Ἀστύνοος, τοῦ δὲ Σάνδοκος, ὃς ἐκ Συρίας ἐλθὼν εἰς Κιλικίαν, πόλιν ἔκτισε Κελένδεριν, καὶ γήμας Φαρνάκην τὴν Μεγασσάρου τοῦ Ὑριέων βασιλέως ἐγέννησε Κινύραν. οὗτος ἐν Κύπρῳ, παραγενόμενος σὺν λαῷ, ἔκτισε Πάφον, γήμας δὲ ἐκεῖ Μεθάρμην, κόρην Πυγμαλίωνος Κυπρίων βασιλέως, Ὀξύπορον ἐγέννησε καὶ Ἄδωνιν, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις θυγατέρας Ὀρσεδίκην καὶ Λαογόρην καὶ Βραισίαν. αὗται δὲ διὰ μῆνιν Ἀφροδίτης ἀλλοτρίοις ἀνδράσι συνευναζόμεναι τὸν βίον ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ μετήλλαξαν.
Herse had by Hermes a son Cephalus, whom Dawn loved and carried off, and consorting with him in Syria bore a son Tithonus, who had a son Phaethon, who had a son Astynous, who had a son Sandocus, who passed from Syria to Cilicia and founded a city Celenderis, and having married Pharnace, daughter of Megassares, king of Hyria, begat Cinyras. This Cinyras in Cyprus, whither he had come with some people, founded Paphos; and having there married Metharme, daughter of Pygmalion, king of Cyprus, he begat Oxyporus and Adonis, and besides them daughters, Orsedice, Laogore, and Braesia. These by reason of the wrath of Aphrodite cohabited with foreigners, and ended their life in Egypt.
Ἄδωνις δὲ ἔτι παῖς ὢν Ἀρτέμιδος χόλῳ πληγεὶς ἐν θήρᾳ ὑπὸ συὸς ἀπέθανεν. Ἡσίοδος δὲ αὐτὸν Φοίνικος καὶ Ἀλφεσιβοίας λέγει, Πανύασις δέ φησι Θείαντος βασιλέως Ἀσσυρίων, ὃς ἔσχε θυγατέρα Σμύρναν. αὕτη κατὰ μῆνιν Ἀφροδίτης (οὐ γὰρ αὐτὴν ἐτίμα) ἴσχει τοῦ πατρὸς ἔρωτα, καὶ συνεργὸν λαβοῦσα τὴν τροφὸν ἀγνοοῦντι τῷ πατρὶ νύκτας δώδεκα συνευνάσθη. ὁ δὲ ὡς ᾔσθετο, σπασάμενος τὸ ξίφος ἐδίωκεν αὐτήν· ἡ δὲ περικαταλαμβανομένη θεοῖς ηὔξατο ἀφανὴς γενέσθαι. θεοὶ δὲ κατοικτείραντες αὐτὴν εἰς δένδρον μετήλλαξαν, ὃ καλοῦσι σμύρναν. δεκαμηνιαίῳ δὲ ὕστερον χρόνῳ τοῦ δένδρου ῥαγέντος γεννηθῆναι τὸν λεγόμενον Ἄδωνιν, ὃν Ἀφροδίτη διὰ κάλλος ἔτι νήπιον κρύφα θεῶν εἰς λάρνακα κρύψασα Περσεφόνῃ παρίστατο. ἐκείνη δὲ ὡς ἐθεάσατο, οὐκ ἀπεδίδου. κρίσεως δὲ ἐπὶ Διὸς γενομένης εἰς τρεῖς μοίρας διῃρέθη ὁ ἐνιαυτός, καὶ μίαν μὲν παρʼ ἑαυτῷ μένειν τὸν Ἄδωνιν, μίαν δὲ παρὰ Περσεφόνῃ προσέταξε, τὴν δὲ ἑτέραν παρʼ Ἀφροδίτῃ· ὁ δὲ Ἄδωνις ταύτῃ προσένειμε καὶ τὴν ἰδίαν μοῖραν. ὕστερον δὲ θηρεύων Ἄδωνις ὑπὸ συὸς πληγεὶς ἀπέθανε.
And Adonis, while still a boy, was wounded and killed in hunting by a boar through the anger of Artemis. Hesiod, however, affirms that he was a son of Phoenix and Alphesiboea; and Panyasis says that he was a son of Thias, king of Assyria, who had a daughter Smyrna. In consequence of the wrath of Aphrodite, for she did not honor the goddess, this Smyrna conceived a passion for her father, and with the complicity of her nurse she shared her father's bed without his knowledge for twelve nights. But when he was aware of it, he drew his sword and pursued her, and being overtaken she prayed to the gods that she might be invisible; so the gods in compassion turned her into the tree which they call smyrna ( myrrh). Ten months afterwards the tree burst and Adonis, as he is called, was born, whom for the sake of his beauty, while he was still an infant, Aphrodite hid in a chest unknown to the gods and entrusted to Persephone. But when Persephone beheld him, she would not give him back. The case being tried before Zeus, the year was divided into three parts, and the god ordained that Adonis should stay by himself for one part of the year, with Persephone for one part, and with Aphrodite for the remainder. However Adonis made over to Aphrodite his own share in addition; but afterwards in hunting he was gored and killed by a boar.
Κέκροπος δὲ ἀποθανόντος Κραναὸς ἐβασίλευσεν αὐτόχθων ὤν, ἐφʼ οὗ τὸν ἐπὶ Δευκαλίωνος λέγεται κατακλυσμὸν γενέσθαι. οὗτος γήμας ἐκ Λακεδαίμονος Πεδιάδα τὴν Μύνητος ἐγέννησε Κρανάην καὶ Κραναίχμην καὶ Ἀτθίδα, ἧς ἀποθανούσης ἔτι παρθένου τὴν χώραν Κραναὸς Ἀτθίδα προσηγόρευσε.
When Cecrops died, Cranaus came to the throne; he was a son of the soil, and it was in his time that the flood in the age of Deucalion is said to have taken place. He married a Lacedaemonian wife, Pedias, daughter of Mynes, and begat Cranae, Menaechme, and Atthis; and when Atthis died a maid, Cranaus called the country Atthis.
Κραναὸν δὲ ἐκβαλὼν Ἀμφικτύων ἐβασίλευσε· τοῦτον ἔνιοι μὲν Δευκαλίωνος, ἔνιοι δὲ αὐτόχθονα λέγουσι. βασιλεύσαντα δὲ αὐτὸν ἔτη δώδεκα Ἐριχθόνιος ἐκβάλλει. τοῦτον οἱ μὲν Ἡφαίστου καὶ τῆς Κραναοῦ θυγατρὸς Ἀτθίδος εἶναι λέγουσιν, οἱ δὲ Ἡφαίστου καὶ Ἀθηνᾶς, οὕτως· Ἀθηνᾶ παρεγένετο πρὸς Ἥφαιστον, ὅπλα κατασκευάσαι θέλουσα. ὁ δὲ ἐγκαταλελειμμένος ὑπὸ Ἀφροδίτης εἰς ἐπιθυμίαν ὤλισθε τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς, καὶ διώκειν αὐτὴν ἤρξατο· ἡ δὲ ἔφευγεν. ὡς δὲ ἐγγὺς αὐτῆς ἐγένετο πολλῇ ἀνάγκῃ (ἦν γὰρ χωλός), ἐπειρᾶτο συνελθεῖν. ἡ δὲ ὡς σώφρων καὶ παρθένος οὖσα οὐκ ἠνέσχετο· ὁ δὲ ἀπεσπέρμηνεν εἰς τὸ σκέλος τῆς θεᾶς. ἐκείνη δὲ μυσαχθεῖσα ἐρίῳ ἀπομάξασα τὸν γόνον εἰς γῆν ἔρριψε. φευγούσης δὲ αὐτῆς καὶ τῆς γονῆς εἰς γῆν πεσούσης Ἐριχθόνιος γίνεται. τοῦτον Ἀθηνᾶ κρύφα τῶν ἄλλων θεῶν ἔτρεφεν, ἀθάνατον θέλουσα ποιῆσαι· καὶ καταθεῖσα αὐτὸν εἰς κίστην Πανδρόσῳ τῇ Κέκροπος παρακατέθετο, ἀπειποῦσα τὴν κίστην ἀνοίγειν. αἱ δὲ ἀδελφαὶ τῆς Πανδρόσου ἀνοίγουσιν ὑπὸ περιεργίας, καὶ θεῶνται τῷ βρέφει παρεσπειραμένον δράκοντα· καὶ ὡς μὲν ἔνιοι λέγουσιν, ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ διεφθάρησαν τοῦ δράκοντος, ὡς δὲ ἔνιοι, διʼ ὀργὴν Ἀθηνᾶς ἐμμανεῖς γενόμεναι κατὰ τῆς ἀκροπόλεως αὑτὰς ἔρριψαν. ἐν δὲ τῷ τεμένει τραφεὶς Ἐριχθόνιος ὑπʼ αὐτῆς Ἀθηνᾶς, ἐκβαλὼν Ἀμφικτύονα ἐβασίλευσεν Ἀθηνῶν, καὶ τὸ ἐν ἀκροπόλει ξόανον τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ἱδρύσατο, καὶ τῶν Παναθηναίων τὴν ἑορτὴν συνεστήσατο, καὶ Πραξιθέαν νηίδα νύμφην ἔγημεν, ἐξ ἧς αὐτῷ παῖς Πανδίων ἐγεννήθη.
Cranaus was expelled by Amphictyon, who reigned in his stead; some say that Amphictyon was a son of Deucalion, others that he was a son of the soil; and when he had reigned twelve years he was expelled by Erichthonius. Some say that this Erichthonius was a son of Hephaestus and Atthis, daughter of Cranaus, and some that he was a son of Hephaestus and Athena, as follows: Athena came to Hephaestus, desirous of fashioning arms. But he, being forsaken by Aphrodite, fell in love with Athena, and began to pursue her; but she fled. When he got near her with much ado ( for he was lame), he attempted to embrace her; but she, being a chaste virgin, would not submit to him, and he dropped his seed on the leg of the goddess. In disgust, she wiped off the seed with wool and threw it on the ground; and as she fled and the seed fell on the ground, Erichthonius was produced. Him Athena brought up unknown to the other gods, wishing to make him immortal; and having put him in a chest, she committed it to Pandrosus, daughter of Cecrops, forbidding her to open the chest. But the sisters of Pandrosus opened it out of curiosity, and beheld a serpent coiled about the babe; and, as some say, they were destroyed by the serpent, but according to others they were driven mad by reason of the anger of Athena and threw themselves down from the acropolis. Having been brought up by Athena herself in the precinct, Erichthonius expelled Amphictyon and became king of Athens; and he set up the wooden image of Athena in the acropolis, and instituted the festival of the Panathenaea, and married Praxithea, a Naiad nymph, by whom he had a son Pandion.
Ἐριχθονίου δὲ ἀποθανόντος καὶ ταφέντος ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ τεμένει τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς Πανδίων ἐβασίλευσεν, ἐφʼ οὗ Δημήτηρ καὶ Διόνυσος εἰς τὴν Ἀττικὴν ἦλθον. ἀλλὰ Δήμητρα μὲν Κελεὸς ὑπεδέξατο, Διόνυσον δὲ Ἰκάριος· ὃς λαμβάνει παρʼ αὐτοῦ κλῆμα ἀμπέλου καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν οἰνοποιίαν μανθάνει. καὶ τὰς τοῦ θεοῦ δωρήσασθαι θέλων χάριτας ἀνθρώποις, ἀφικνεῖται πρός τινας ποιμένας, οἳ γευσάμενοι τοῦ ποτοῦ καὶ χωρὶς ὕδατος διʼ ἡδονὴν ἀφειδῶς ἑλκύσαντες, πεφαρμάχθαι νομίζοντες ἀπέκτειναν αὐτόν. μεθʼ ἡμέραν δὲ νοήσαντες ἔθαψαν αὐτόν. Ἠριγόνῃ δὲ τῇ θυγατρὶ τὸν πατέρα μαστευούσῃ κύων συνήθης ὄνομα Μαῖρα, ἣ τῷ Ἰκαρίῳ συνείπετο, τὸν νεκρὸν ἐμήνυσε· κἀκείνη κατοδυραμένη τὸν πατέρα ἑαυτὴν ἀνήρτησε.
When Erichthonius died and was buried in the same precinct of Athena, Pandion became king, in whose time Demeter and Dionysus came to Attica. But Demeter was welcomed by Celeus at Eleusis, and Dionysus by Icarius, who received from him a branch of a vine and learned the process of making wine. And wishing to bestow the god's boons on men, Icarius went to some shepherds, who, having tasted the beverage and quaffed it copiously without water for the pleasure of it, imagined that they were bewitched and killed him; but by day they understood how it was and buried him. When his daughter Erigone was searching for her father, a domestic dog, named Maera, which had attended Icarius, discovered his dead body to her, and she bewailed her father and hanged herself.
Πανδίων δὲ γήμας Ζευξίππην τῆς μητρὸς τὴν ἀδελφὴν θυγατέρας μὲν ἐτέκνωσε Πρόκνην καὶ Φιλομήλαν, παῖδας δὲ διδύμους Ἐρεχθέα καὶ Βούτην. πολέμου δὲ ἐνστάντος πρὸς Λάβδακον περὶ γῆς ὅρων ἐπεκαλέσατο βοηθὸν ἐκ Θρᾴκης Τηρέα τὸν Ἄρεος, καὶ τὸν πόλεμον σὺν αὐτῷ κατορθώσας ἔδωκε Τηρεῖ πρὸς γάμον τὴν ἑαυτοῦ θυγατέρα Πρόκνην. ὁ δὲ ἐκ ταύτης γεννήσας παῖδα Ἴτυν, καὶ Φιλομήλας ἐρασθεὶς ἔφθειρε καὶ ταύτην, κρύπτων ἐπὶ τῶν χωρίων. καὶ τὴν γλῶσσαν ἐξέτεμεν αὐτῆς. ἡ δὲ ὑφήνασα ἐν πέπλῳ γράμματα διὰ τούτων ἐμήνυσε Πρόκνῃ τὰς ἰδίας συμφοράς. ἡ δὲ ἀναζητήσασα τὴν ἀδελφὴν κτείνει τὸν παῖδα Ἴτυν, καὶ καθεψήσασα Τηρεῖ δεῖπνον ἀγνοοῦντι παρατίθησι· καὶ μετὰ τῆς ἀδελφῆς διὰ τάχους ἔφυγε. Τηρεὺς δὲ αἰσθόμενος, ἁρπάσας πέλεκυν ἐδίωκεν. αἱ δὲ ἐν Δαυλίᾳ τῆς Φωκίδος γινόμεναι περικατάληπτοι θεοῖς εὔχονται ἀπορνεωθῆναι, καὶ Πρόκνη μὲν γίνεται ἀηδών, Φιλομήλα δὲ χελιδών· ἀπορνεοῦται δὲ καὶ Τηρεύς, καὶ γίνεται ἔποψ.
Pandion married Zeuxippe, his mother's sister, and begat two daughters, Procne and Philomela, and twin sons, Erechtheus and Butes. But war having broken out with Labdacus on a question of boundaries, he called in the help of Tereus, son of Ares, from Thrace, and having with his help brought the war to a successful close, he gave Tereus his own daughter Procne in marriage. Tereus had by her a son Itys, and having fallen in love with Philomela, he seduced her also saying that Procne was dead, for he concealed her in the country. Afterwards he married Philomela and bedded with her, and cut out her tongue. But by weaving characters in a robe she revealed thereby to Procne her own sorrows. And having sought out her sister, Procne killed her son Itys, boiled him, served him up for supper to the unwitting Tereus, and fled with her sister in haste. When Tereus was aware of what had happened, he snatched up an axe and pursued them. And being overtaken at Daulia in Phocis, they prayed the gods to be turned into birds, and Procne became a nightingale, and Philomela a swallow. And Tereus also was changed into a bird and became a hoopoe.